Acai berries are notoriously difficult to work with. They degrade within 24 hours, so unless you live very near the palm on which they live, you are very unlikely to be able to find whole berries. Ever. The nearest thing you are going to get to a whole acai berry something that has been processed as little as possible.

For most people, then, the nearest thing to real acai will be acai purée. Acai purée is made very close to where the berries are harvested: they are collected and then mashed up and hot bottled.

Because there is so little processing that goes on — and so few additives added to the purée — it still will not last very long. Certainly purées will not last the 12 to 18 months required by the big supermarket chains in order for them to consider a product viable. This is why you will never see acai berry purée in the larger shops; in fact pretty much the only place you will find it is over the Internet. Fortunately there are lots of good web stores that deal with 100% pure acai purée, so do a little bit of searching and you could just come up with a winner.

Every year, thousands of people go to Phuket and make Patong their home for the duration of their holiday. We don’t have to tell you that Patong is just about the most exciting place on the island. Patong is, however, large enough that you can hide away from the rabble if you want peace and seclusion.

There are a number of highly respectable resorts and hotels in Patong that make a decided effort to distance themselves from the beer-bar crowd. Resorts such as the Burasari are a far cry from the backpacker guesthouses and hostels that Patong was once revered for. Times have changed, and you’re more likely to find spas and cocktails than beer and drunk people – in some parts of Patong at least.

What Patong also has going for it is a great restaurant scene. Whatever type of food you’re a fan of, you’ll be able to find enough choice to keep you happy during you’re holiday. Fans of Mexican food will be especially happy with Coyote on Patong beach road. For something a little more local, Patong also has a fair amount of street food up for sampling.

Patong is a great place to go shopping. The streets of Patong boast more market stalls than you could ever manage to visit in one day. Plus, Patong is home to Jungceylon, which is Phuket’s main shopping mall. Jungceylon has it going on, with numerous clothing and electronics stores, as well as a healthy smattering of restaurants.

If you want to drink and dance all night, Patong is the best place to do it in Phuket, thanks to the large number of bars and clubs that you can find all over Soi Bangla and around the greater area. If you’re into naughty nightlife then you’ll find that in Patong in abundance, too.